Does anyone know if there are any coffin box manufacturers anymore? I've looked everywhere. Or does anyone have plans to build a coffin box? I'm sick of losing my blind everytime the river comes up and boat blinds suck in the wind.
thanks
Joe

I am not sure if it would be what you are looking for, but Otter makes a layout boat with wheels that can also be used as a field blind. Someone and it may be Otter also makes a sled that can be dug into the ground and used as a layout type blind.

real easy to make in a few hours work-time.......about 40lbs.....fiberglassed and completely waterproof....floats to within five inches of top with me and gunning gear (I'm about 160lb)....flip wings....dimensons are 10" x 24" x 6'....total cost everything included....about $150 (fiberglass and West epoxy resin were the big costs)....it's basically a micro jon boat

nothing illegal at all........if actually in total water, you must have no less than half your body under the water line (I also hunt from an MLB Classic).........I've been checked by wardens and they have only complimented me on the construction and how it dissapears........that said, I have never been floating in open water while using it....coffins are designed for use in marsh grasses, sand bars and even open flooded fields.....my statement about being a mini-jon was only to note it's watertight construction which is based on the same concepts used in boat building

Commercail construction of coffins......check Lou Tisch at Lock, Stock & Barrel........also, I think there is a coffin out there called the Phantom and Final Approach makes a unit called the Predator I believe.....Otter makes the Final Attack which I believe is sold by Cabelas.

The key it "beneath the surface of the water" and I think dukhtr really meant it's okay if your more than half above the water not more than half below the water. As long as the majority of you is above the water line your are not beneath the surface of the water any more than you are beneath the water line when you are up to your waist in waders or hunting from a float tube. Properly used a coffin blind would be no different that a layout boat. The sink box was more like a pit blind in the water with just the top edge sticking out of the water where the hunter could duck down and be 100% below the water line.

I know the pic makes it look like a beast....not really....about 40 lbs is all....the 'dolly' just makes it easier to move around and keep storage space minimal........thanks Thaner for the support and clarification.....guys, I do not use this 'coffin' as a boat allowing below water level concealment, rather it is a watertight layout blind.....I have been highly successful taking Canadas on tidal flats, mallards in flooded hayfield and out in the salt marsh at high tide when there is little or no cover but the water is a few inches deep.

Sorry if I started a debate.......just trying to offer a homebuilt waterfowling tool, that is fun and easy to make....especially when compared to a $500 or more for a commercial product.

The law cannot be interpreted any differntly than exactly how it is written. Since it does not say that 50% of the body must be under the water it cannot be interpreted that way. TECHNICALLY, if even a toe nail is beneath the surface of the water you are violating the law. If you were cited for hunting in a boat in which a toe was below the surface of the water you would be able to defend yourself in court. The court would then further define the law and make a judgement.

With that being said. I have done a fairly extensive search and have been unable to find a single case in which a hunter was charged with hunting from a sink box.

I appreciate the feed back and did not mean to cause such trouble. The law that everyone is arguing over is to keep guys out of sink boxes not coffin blinds. A coffin box is comparable to a layout boat more than a sink box. I hunt rivers that freeze and flow and swell. Thats why I want a coffin blind. I can tow that baby to any island. I have faught with boat blinds and puting out decoys and high wind. Coffin boxes are perfectly leagal and once I get mine built I'll throw up some pics.
Thanks all
:salude:

But seriously, what is the point of this law? It is not to keep boats out of traffic lanes, just about anyhting with lights is allowwed on the water. And it is not a concealment issue, or laydown blinds would be banned. I fail to see the relivance of this law.

Perhaps it is antiquated and that is why no records of infraction, but why was it originaly written? Are these things just that lethal to ducks? And if so....then a lot more things should be outlawed too.

VTduckman wrote:Iam slightly confused. do you bury that beast in the mud on a sandbar or river bank or float around in it?

I'm curious too? Do you float or do you place it in 5" of water off a sandbar or bank?

If you float, how stable is it?

I just had to buy some resin and plywood to repair a sailing boat. I think I have enough over to make one (which I am doing). Mine will be trapezoid (narrower at the feet) and I am thinking 14" high, 26" wide at the shoulders, 18" wide at my feet, 5'8" long with sloping ends. To make it wider or longer, I will need to buy more materials.

Boomn4x4 wrote:The law cannot be interpreted any differntly than exactly how it is written. ... if even a toe nail is beneath the surface of the water you are violating the law. ... The court would then further define the law and make a judgement.

Hope you don't mind an Aussie talking about US laws

I think you are interpreting what is not in the words ... "affording the hunter a means of concealment beneath the surface of the water". Having a toenail under the water does not give you concealment. The hunter must be concealed beneath the surface. This could be interpreted as all of him (her).

Here (we have a similar court system) the courts must interpret legislation to give it the meaning parliament intended. It intended to ban sink boxes.

He sells a Mud Box "Kit, which is UPS/FedEx Ground shippable includes
all components (except adhesive). 6 pieces of black ABS plastic,
including backrest and cover. Comfortable, watertight. Easily painted or camoflaged.
"You can now set up where the birds want to be!"

The rules are straightforward but the actual construction and installation of the "blind" is what makes one legal and the other not. Sink Boxes are illegal- everywhere. The pictures from the outfitter look like the ones on the outer banks of NC...this is called a "curtain blind". The difference is a Sink Box is a floating box that hides the hunter below the surface of the water...a Curtain Blind is affixed to the bottom and therefore needs the panels (or curtains) around the perimeter to keep wave action from filling it back up. In actuality a curtain blind is just like a goose or duck pit in a rice field...just installed in the water with the top lip at or just below the mid-tide water level.

apexhunter wrote:The rules are straightforward but the actual construction and installation of the "blind" is what makes one legal and the other not. Sink Boxes are illegal- everywhere. The pictures from the outfitter look like the ones on the outer banks of NC...this is called a "curtain blind". The difference is a Sink Box is a floating box that hides the hunter below the surface of the water...a Curtain Blind is affixed to the bottom and therefore needs the panels (or curtains) around the perimeter to keep wave action from filling it back up. In actuality a curtain blind is just like a goose or duck pit in a rice field...just installed in the water with the top lip at or just below the mid-tide water level.

Apexhunter has is right. I don't hunt out of them(curtain blind), but there is plenty around here. They did them into the mub in shallow water, then put the curtain on and pump out the water. When they are done they pull the curtain and it fills up with water. We call them sink boxes, but there are not that at all because they DON'T FLOAT.

I just hunt out of a coffin blind, that way I can move with the birds.

MissedAgain wrote:You really have to look at the Hybrid boats - they are just like coffin boxes and layout boats combined.

It uses about the same amount of wood as many coffin boxes with 12 to 20 hours of effort giving you a fiberglass & wood marsh boat. Costs $200 or less to build and glass.

You can get free plans on cheapsportsman.com or duckboats.net

I know that this is an older post that I am responding too, but I seriously want to build the Hybrid Coffin/Layout Boat shown in the second picture down. The links/addresses listed do not get me to the plans needed -- any other suggestions?